High ranking commanders from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) joined the latest rounds of peace-talks with the Colombian government on Friday, in what has been seen as a positive step in negotiations.

The Farc militants labelled their commanders "political artillery" that could ensure successful negotiations, reports The Guardian.

Speaking about their aims at the next round of negotiations, the Farc spokesperson at the negotiations, Ivan Marquez, said,

“This is our guerrilla command for normalisation, which will explore paths toward an agreement with officers of the army, the navy, the air force and the national police. This will allow us to reach an armistice that the victims are demanding and the nation is clamouring for.”

The government and Farc militants have been in negotiation for almost 2 years and have reached agreements on 3 of the 5 main topics for negotiation: cooperation in eradicating the illicit drugs trade, agricultural reform and the legal participation of Farc militants in politics once a comprehensive agreement is reached.

The two remaining topics to be discussed are reparations for war victims and the mechanics of ending the conflict. The Farc militants have remained adamant that they should not have to disarm.

The conflict between the two sides has killed over 200,000 people since 1964.

Farc warns peace talks will fail if root causes are not addressed by Colombia (05 August 2014)

Farc rebels will work towards peace in Colombia without surrendering (05 May 2014)